365 days of aRt. DAY TWENTY-EIGHT.

bury your shoes
and jump out
leave the weight of the world
in the grave you always thought you would need
YOU'RE FREE
your soul lives for eternity
fill in with stone
the hole you spent so long getting to know
AND JUST LET GO

Last night I was fortunate enough to play catch-up with an old friend -- a very dear, old friend. I remember spending nights in sleeping bags listening to Journey on repeat, making ridiculous music videos with our parents' old-school camcorders, and giggling over boys with her. Somewhere along the way we lost contact -- and nine years later I'm finding myself filling her in on all the gaps. It was such a nice recap of what I went through to get to where I am today. Trading backpacking stories and hippie phases, music festivals and nomadic experiences, heartbreak stories and true-LOVE-connections -- I couldn't help but feel grateful. I used to be one to roll my eyes at the overused cliche, 'everything happens for a reason'. It's so easy to get lost and to feel angry during letdown. Although, if I hadn't snuck out of the house ten years ago and subsequently gotten caught and been grounded for what seemed like LIFE -- I never would have met the love of my life on the dance floor. Had I not had my heart broken, I may have never picked up a paintbrush. Had I not experienced deep loss, I may not have ever moved to NYC or Arizona or Baltimore. Things DO happen for a reason. Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote, "Nothing else needs to happen for this moment to be complete. Work at allowing more things to unfold in your life without forcing them to happen and without rejecting the ones that don't fit your idea of what 'should' be happening" (from EVERYWHERE YOU GO THERE YOU ARE). Today, I'm thankful for all the mistakes and rejections..